Scarlett Undercover

Paperback | November 1, 2016

Meet Scarlett, a smart, sarcastic fifteen-year-old, ready to take on crime in her hometown. When Scarlett agrees to investigate a local boy's suicide, she figures she's in for an easy case and a quick buck. But it doesn't take long for suicide to start looking a lot like murder.As Scarlett finds herself deep in a world of cults, curses, and the seemingly supernatural, she discovers that her own family secrets may have more to do with the situation than she thinks...and that cracking the case could lead to solving her father's murder.Jennifer Latham delivers a compelling story and a character to remember in this one-of-a-kind debut novel.

Meet Scarlett, a smart, sarcastic fifteen-year-old, ready to take on crime in her hometown. When Scarlett agrees to investigate a local boy's suicide, she figures she's in for an easy case and a quick buck. But it doesn't take long for suicide to start looking a lot like murder.As Scarlett finds herself deep in a world of cults, curses...

Jennifer Latham has had some really normal jobs and some really weird ones, including school psychologist, middle school teacher, yoga instructor, and autopsy assistant. She was born in New York City and currently lives with her husband and two daughters in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Scarlett Undercoveris her debut novel.

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Reviews

Rated 3 out of
5 by
Giselle_from_Book_Nerd_Ca from
A good mystery thriller!Scarlett is smart as a whip, sarcastic and witty and also a kick-butt teenage defective. Graduating from school early has its benefits, her own company where she takes on cases. Her latest one is with a young girl named Gemma who believes her brother is involved in a dangerous cult. What Scerlett doesn't know is that her father's death and Gemma's brother are also linked. Will she help solve Gemma and her brother, as well as find out why her father is killed or is she way in over her head?
Gemma is hilariously sarcastic, and I couldn't help but giggle when she would talk back to her elders. Granted some of the adult characters were being disrespectful so I didn't mind it one bit. She's smart and agile and I really like her dynamics with her older sister. How far apart they are and how both their personalities differ from one another. Oh and did I mention this main character is also Muslim-American? I loved reading the different words and meanings as well.
A good mystery thriller that has some mythological elements will have you turning the pages for more!

Date published: 2016-01-20

Rated 4 out of
5 by
BRITTANY from
Review from This is the Story of My(Reading) LifeWhen I saw Scarlett Undercover being offered for review I was immediately interested for two reasons. One Scarlett Undercover sounds perfect for fans of Veronica Mars and two Scarlett is a Muslim American. There was no way I was passing up a book that has a POC as the MC. As we all know that is so rare in YA. Scarlett Undercover is a great hidden gem of a book that I think will appease a variety of readers.
Scarlett is a PI. After her father's murder years ago, a murder that has gone unsolved, she's taken it upon herself to discover clues about it as well as help those in her city. Scarlett takes what she thinks is going to be an easy case from a nine year old girl, but turns out to be much much more. That call leads Scarlett onto clues and people that bring up details on her fathers murder.
I'm going to take a page out of my friend, Missy's, reviewing format and do this review a little differently than I normally do.
Scarlett is a great voice. She's clever, witty and sassy. Scarlett kind of has this old timey way of talking. You know, how PI's talked in the like the 30's-50's? Yea, Scarlett totally has that down. Plus she's totally kick-ass and unafraid to say or do whatever.
The relationship and connections Scarlett has are the bomb. She only has her sister as family she has left. But that's only blood family. Scarlett has so many people looking out for her. As well as her best friend(secret(not so secret) crush). Scarlett has a really good read on most situations she finds herself in, which means she can get her way and what she needs by using her smart mouth(I don't mean that meanly). She's got an in everywhere. Which makes her a great PI.
I love the how the story progressed. For such a short book I got worried that once revelations start getting revealed that there'd be this big rush to get to the next unlocked clue. But nope, I didn't feel like any secret or situation was overlooked. Latham did a really good job on introducing a few important characters that would explain the situation and thus would lead Scarlett onto figuring out the next clue. There was a really easy flow that lead Scarlett through solving the case.
Latham does a fantastic job on incorporating Muslim lore and religion into the story. Scarlett is Muslim American but she's kind of confused on where she stands since her parents deaths. Scarlett is a very smart girl and of course has an understanding of her religious history but what this case teaches her is there is a lot more to it. And a lot more to her families history. There's supernatural elements that were really interesting to learn about.
As you all know romance is my thing. I love me a perfect ship in any book I'm reading. Scarlett Undercover barely touches on anything romantic and I didn't miss it. I was so caught up in Scarlett solving the case and her father's murder that I'm really happy to see a romance didn't over take what was important to this story. Sure I was totally shipping Scarlett and Deck but it wasn't my main focus.
As far as I know Scarlett Undercover is a stand alone, which YAY, but I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more of Scarlett in the future. Which might not be the case, so my only little issue is that I would have liked to see another twenty or thirty pages. Like I mentioned I don't think the story felt rushed, but I would have liked to see some of the details flushed out a bit more. As well as a bit more after the conflict is resolved. It wasn't an abrupt ending, but I missed getting more on Scarlett's feelings.
Scarlett Undercover is a really fast thrilling read. It's something unique in the flood of YA books out there. Diversity is always a win and when it's done so well and interesting it makes it really easy for me to add a new book to my book pushing pile.

Date published: 2015-08-05

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Ri_hiveretcafe from
A Fun and Diverse Adventure!Omygosh this book is so much fun and was much more than I expected it to be!
Scarlett Undercover is a novel about a Muslim American teenager who also happens to be a private detective. One day a little girl asks for her help to find out what's the deal with her older brother who has started to act really strange. It turns out, the problem is a little larger than she expected when she finds herself dealing with Jinn and family secrets.
I'm huge into mythology, the older the better. The Jinn mythology really interested me from the beginning since I never really took the time to look into Islamic mythology. I looked it up and a lot of it is quite true, though there are bits that were bent to fit the story of course. I enjoy the way the Jinn mythology is incorporated into the novel.
Scarlett is awesome. She know's muay Thai and she's a private detective. I liked reading about her struggles with her faith even though her parents were devout Muslims as is her sister. It's something that I and I'm sure many other people can identify with. She cares deeply for other people to the extent that it's a fatal flaw.
I also really enjoyed her relationship with Decker, a Jewish guy that Scarlett has known for forever and has feelings for. I like that their relationship was never really defined nor did it particularly "go anywhere". It just is a thing that is already established and the narrative is an event that both Decker and Scarlett go through together in their relationship.
The plot and the mystery of it kept me hooked since I had no idea what was going on and I really wanted to know what was going to happen next and what would Scarlett fall into.
Overall, Scarlett Undercover is a great diverse novel with mystery and mythology thrown in to create a story that people can relate to.